


Unveiled

by alienat99



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Death Threats, F/M, Gen, Harry Potter is a Good Parent, Hurt Albus Severus Potter, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, James Sirius Potter is a Good Sibling, Kidnapping, No actual sexual assault, Not Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Compliant, Protective Harry Potter, Starvation, The Potter kids have been super sheltered until now, Torture, even if he doesn't seem like it at the beginning, more tags to be added later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-20
Packaged: 2020-06-30 07:16:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19848220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alienat99/pseuds/alienat99
Summary: When Albus Potter disappears and finds himself in the hands of a mad man, his previously-sheltered life gets turned upside down. At home, his family and friends fight to save him, but can they find him in time?





	1. Chapter 1

It was snowing outside. Albus watched the flurries fall, piling on to the already-covered-ground, a blanket of white all around the castle. It had been snowing heavily for over a week now, causing Care of Magical Creatures and Quidditch practices to be cancelled the last few days of the semester. Now that the semester had come to an end, Albus could only be glad that the railroad tracks that the Hogwarts Express rode on were magically spelled to keep clean of snow. Otherwise, they would have a problem getting home.

Not that Albus was very keen on heading home. In fact, he would much rather hang around Hogwarts for Christmas with Scorpius, where annoying siblings wouldn’t be.

“Albus,” the door to their dorm opened and Albus looked away from the window to the voice, “Everyone’s heading down now. You ready?”

Albus sighed, sliding off of the windowsill and stuffing his book into his trunk. He grabbed his emerald green jumper, “As ready as I’ll ever be,” he said as he waved his wand over his trunk, causing it to shrink. He picked up the pint-sized trunk and stuffed it in his pocket, “Are you sure I can’t stay with you over the break?”

Scorpius smiled at him, blond hair messy and grey eyes shining with mirth, “Sorry, Al. My grandparents are coming over, though, and you know how they are. They would go mad. Besides, I think your parents want to see you.”

Albus scoffed lightly. He kicked his shoes against the floor and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

Scorpius lightly punched him in the shoulder, not nearly hard enough to hurt, “James is a prat, but I’m sure it won’t be that bad.”

He arched an eyebrow at him, “You don’t have to live with him. All he wants to talk about is his new girlfriend, and how Gryffindor beat Slytherin in the last match, and how he’s going to be joining the Aurors when he graduates.”

“Okay, I admit that, but he can’t be worse than Grandfather.”

Albus winced at that. He knew that Scorpius hadn’t meant it that way, but he suddenly felt absolutely horrible. He knew that Scorpius was worried about his grandparents visiting for the holidays. While his father had been a Death Eater during the War, he regretted it, and worked to make things right. His grandfather, on the other hand, was bitter and loyal to the cause. Scorpius wasn’t even allowed to tell him who he was friends with, for fear that it would send him into a rage.

And here Albus was, grumpy over having to spend time with his arrogant prat of a brother.

His brother was a saint compared to Lucius Malfoy.

“Sorry,” he said sheepishly, pulling his jumper over his shoulders, “You’re right. You’re right. Don’t forget to owl me over break. Let me know if anything goes on. I’ll get Teddy to help me break you out if you need me to.”

“It will be fine,” Scorpius shook his head, “Let’s get down to the train before we miss it.”

Albus nodded. He patted his pocket with his trunk to be sure it was there and then frowned lightly, “You go on ahead. I’ve got to find Inky. I think she’s hiding out somewhere around here. I’ll meet you at the train, though.”

His friend gave a nod and headed towards the door, “Okay. Don’t forget your coat, though. It’s freezing outside!”

“Yes, mum,” Albus said with a smirk, shaking his head lightly with a laugh as Scorpius ducked out of the room.

Albus turned back to the room, sighing. He pulled back the drapes around his bed, but Inky wasn’t slumbering on the pillow like he usually was. He wasn’t under the bed, either, nor was he in Scorpius’ bed.

“Inky. Inky, come on, girl. Time to go,” he called out, peering under Rory Anderson’s bed, but only finding a stray Charms textbook.

Once he was sure that his cat wasn’t in the dorm, he headed out towards the Common Room, calling Inky’s name out with a worried frown.

He ran into Isabella Flint in the Common Room. The Sixth-Year was doing some last-minute cleaning, putting the books back on the bookshelf. She grimaced at the sight of him, and Albus braced himself for one of her scathing comments about him being a blood traitor, but it didn’t come. Instead, she bit her tongue and looked like she just tasted a lemon, and simply said, “I think I saw her by the Potion’s classroom.”

Albus blinked, surprised, “The Potion’s classroom? What was she doing over there?”

“Why would I know, Potter?” she spat, “Just go find your stupid cat.”

With that, she violently shoved the last book on the shelf, picked up her textbook, and stormed out of the room.

Albus blinked, surprised. That conversation was much more pleasant than he was used to with Flint. The older girl had been one of the most vocal students when he had been sorted into Slytherin, not afraid to let her opinion be known about a Potter in her house. Her opinions did not decrease as the years went on, so for her to leave without insulting him… that was a miracle.

“The Potion’s classroom,” he muttered to himself as he headed that way, “Why is she over there?”

Inky was not confined to the Slytherin common room, but she tended to stay there. Unlike a lot of the other cats that belonged to various students around the castle, Inky was not very adventurous. She preferred to stay on or under Albus’ bed, occasionally venturing out into the Common Room for pets if Albus was away for too long.

While the Potion’s classroom was the closest classroom to the Slytherin common room, Albus found it hard to believe that his cat had gone anywhere outside of the Snake Nest.

The halls were empty as Albus made his way to the Potion’s classroom. It seemed like all of the students had already headed to the train, or at least to the Great Hall to grab some food before the trip back. He unconsciously pulled his jumper closer to himself to protect against the chill of the dungeons.

“Inky,” he called out as he approached the Potion’s classroom, “Inky, come here, girl.”

He heard a soft meow from inside the classroom. A relieved smile appeared on his face. He pushed open the classroom door and saw Inky sitting on one of the desks. She meowed at him again as he entered.

“There you are. What are you doing in here?” He asked her as he approached, picking her up, “Professor Mallory probably won’t be very happy that you’re in here.”

The cat just purred in his arms, and he smiled as he turned back to leave the room.

* * *

Scorpius tapped his foot nervously, chewing on his fingernails as he glanced down the path leading to the train. The Hogwarts Express would be leaving for London in three minutes, but Albus had yet to arrive. Scorpius had arrived at the train over thirty minutes ago. Surely, it hadn’t taken that long to find that cat! He would have helped if he had realized that the cat was missing.

“Oi! Malfoy!” a voice called from the train. Scorpius looked up to see James Potter leaning out of the window, a cocky grin on his face, “You having second thoughts about going home for the holiday? I know I would if I had to go home to your family.”

He huffed, burying his hands in his coat pocket, and sent a small glare at the seventeen-year-old, “Shut up, James. I’m just waiting on your brother.”

A flicker of concern appeared on James’ face, but it was quickly overtaken by a smirk, “He better hurry. Dad won’t be happy if he has to pick him up at Hogwarts. Maybe he’ll even give me his presents.”

He ducked his head back into the train, pulling the window back up, and Scorpius huffed lightly.

“Merlin, Al,” he muttered under his breath, bouncing from foot to foot, “No wonder you don’t want to go home with him.”

The color green caught his eye, and Scorpius smiled in relief as he saw Albus hurrying down the path.

“Where’s your coat?” he asked him as Albus approached, a wild look in his face, “And Inky?”

“What?” Albus asked, blinking at him. Something didn’t feel right, “Oh, my coat’s in my trunk, and I forgot that I already sent Inky home yesterday.”

Scorpius’ eyebrows raised, “Really? I could have sworn I saw him last night.”

“Must have been a different cat,” Albus brushed it off. He pulled his sleeves over his hands nervously, “Let’s get on the train before it leaves.”

Scorpius nodded, deciding to push that away for the moment, “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.”

The two quickly hopped on the train, joining a compartment with Rory and Carter, two of their roommates.

Albus was silent most of the ride to London, staring out the window. When Scorpius tried to start up a conversation, he responded with one-word sentences. He kept leaving the compartment, claiming that he had to use the loo.

Something was up.

He watched his friend carefully, eyebrows furrowed, noticing the unfamiliar, nervous ticks. His leg practically vibrated as it bounced, and his eyes darted around the compartment every now and then. His back was stiff, and his lips stayed sealed. It was… not like Albus.

A few hours in, when Albus stood up to go use the loo again, Scorpius decided to follow.

“What’s going on?” he asked Albus once the compartment door was closed, where Rory and Carter couldn’t here, “Did something happen?”

Albus jumped in surprised, not having noticed Scorpius follow. He spun around, hand on his chest, and his green eyes narrowed, “What? No! Everything’s fine. I’ve just got to use the loo.”

“You’ve used the loo once an hour since we got on the train,” Scorpius argued, arms crossing over his chest, “And you’re jittery. Something’s got you spooked. What is it?”

“Nothing,” Albus said sharply, in such an un-Albus way that it made Scorpius’ eyes narrow, “I’m fine. Leave me alone.”

He reared back, hurt, “Dude, what’s wrong with you? Did Flint say something? I saw her in the Common Room when I left.”

Albus just huffed and pushed past him, storming down the hall to the loo.

Scorpius watched, eyebrows furrowed, and arms crossed tightly over his chest. Albus glanced back, glared at him, then slipped into the loo.

He opened the compartment door and went back in, sitting down stiffly. Rory and Carter gave him odd looks but said nothing, which Scorpius was thankful for. He didn’t know why Albus was angry with him or what his deal was, and he couldn’t help the hurt from rising up inside of him.

Albus did not return to the compartment.


	2. Chapter 2

Albus had not returned to the compartment by the time they reached Kings Cross Station.

“Oi, where’s Potter?” Rory asked as Scorpius stood up, eyebrows furrowed, and peered out of the compartment. There was no sign of the Slytherin boy.

“I don’t know,” he answered truthfully, chewing on his bottom lip worriedly, “I’m going to go search for him. I’ll see you guys next semester.”

The two boys grunted in acknowledgement as Scorpius quickly left he compartment, making his way down the hall. Students were piling out of the train and towards their families, but a quick glance outside showed that the Potters had no yet been reunited with their middle child.

“Albus!” he called, slipping past people in the halls, “Albus!”

He had just passed another compartment when he heard the unmistakable sound of a door open and a very familiar voice call out.

“What are you doing, Malfoy?”

The voice was not cruel or rude, just curious.

He spun on his heels to face the owner of the voice.

Rose Granger-Weasley ached an eyebrow at him. Her bushy, auburn hair was covered with a beanie, and she pulled her coat around her to prepare for stepping out onto the platform.

He blushed, caught off guard, and gave her a timid smile, “Oh, Rose. Hey,” he said, coughing lightly, “Uh, nothing. Just… uh… looking for Albus. He ran off somewhere.”

“He probably went ahead to go to Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny,” she said, glancing outside, but frowning when she caught sight of the couple standing with Lily only, “Or not.”

Scorpius nodded lightly, “Yeah, uh, he was acting weird. Got mad at me for no reason. He’s been gone for over an hour now.”

He glanced behind her as he spoke, trying to see if he could catch sight of the boy, but he was nowhere in sight. He could see Violet Creevey, Samantha Oswald, Sebastian Rodriguez, and even, surprisingly, Professor Mallory, exiting the train, but no Albus.

Rose frowned at that, head tilted lightly, “That doesn’t sound like Albus.”

“Yeah, I know,” he responded worriedly, chewing on his lip, “Something’s wrong.”

She let out a breath and rubbed her hands, warming them up as the cold air entered the train from the open doors as people piled out, “Well, let me help you find him. I’ll have to talk some sense into my cousin.”

Oh, Albus wouldn’t be happy about that, but Scorpius knew better than to argue with Rose Granger-Weasley, so instead he just gave a nervous smile and a nod, “Okay. Okay, let’s find him.”

* * *

“-And then James just swooped in out of nowhere, flying like a bullet, and grabbed the snitch right from under Veronica Milton!” Lily exclaimed cheerfully from her spot beside Harry, bouncing on her toes and flailing her arms excitedly, “It was amazing! The Slytherins were so angry! I thought Milton was going to burst!”

Harry nodded along to his daughter’s story, but his eyes stayed trained on the Hogwarts express, glancing up and down it and at each exit. He could see James nearby, saying his goodbyes to his friends, but Albus was nowhere to be seen. No one had left the train in a solid minute, now.

“That’s great, Lils,” he said with a hum, “Have you seen your brother?”

Lily frowned at his lack of enthusiasm, arms crossing over her chest, “Daddy!” she complained, “Gryffindor completely ruined Slytherin!”

“Yes, yes, that’s great, Lils. We’ll celebrate tonight, but have you seen Albus?”

She pouted but acquiesced, “I saw him on the train a few times. I think he had a fight with Scorpius or something. He seemed upset.”

“Oh dear,” Ginny said, worry shining in her brown eyes, “Harry, why don’t you take James and Lily back to the house? I’ll try and find him. He’s probably just upset. I don’t think he’s had a fight with Scorpius before.”

Harry nodded. When it came to comfort, Ginny had always been the better parent. Harry could protect and teach and discipline, and he could even comfort to a point, but Ginny always seemed to know what to say, especially to Albus. Harry always seemed to say the wrong thing around his middle child.

“James!” he called over to his eldest, “Time to go!”

The boy was in the middle at laughing at something that his friend said. He looked over, mouth open in a laugh, and sent them a thumbs up before turning back. He said something quickly to a friend, then strutted over, “Did Lily tell you guys about my amazing win?”

“She did,” Harry said with a nod, “Got your trunk?”

He patted his pocket, nodding with a cocky smirk on his face, “’Course.”

“Okay, good. Let’s get going now.”

James’ smirk turned into a frown. He cocked his head in confusion, “What about Al?”

“Your mum is going to find him. Come on, now.”

Harry ushered the two of them away, leaving Ginny to turn to search for her son. The platform was thinning out. Most people had left to go home, leaving only a few people still talking to their friends. She spotted Hermione and Ron standing nearby with Hugo while he babbled to them, and briefly spotted Rose and Scorpius getting off the train, frowns on their faces.

“Rose! Scorpius!” she called out, jogging over to them, “Have you guys seen Al?”

Scorpius’ face crumpled, and Rose was the one to speak up, shaking her head, “No, we were looking for him, too.”

“He got mad at me,” Scorpius said bitterly, “I don’t know why. I haven’t seen him in a couple of hours. I thought I would see him before he went home but I can’t find him.”

Her stomach churned. She frowned, eyes glancing around the platform again, but there was no sight of her son. She couldn’t help the thought that something was terribly wrong from seeping into her mind.

“Okay. Okay, well, did he say anything about where he might be?”

Scorpius shook his head. He looked close to tears, “No. About two hours ago he said he had to use the loo and I haven’t seen him since. I think he decided to go sit with someone else. I don’t know why. I didn’t mean to make him mad.”

“Oh, I know, Scorpius. I’m sure he isn’t that mad,” Ginny reassured. She glanced over, noticing Draco and Astoria chatting to each other quietly, “Why don’t you go head over to your parents? I’ll have Albus send you a letter when we get home.”

The boy nodded shakily, paler than normal, “Okay. Okay, thank you, Mrs. Potter. Tell him that I’m really sorry.”

“Of course, Scorpius,” Ginny smiled at him and squeezed his shoulder, “I’ll let him know. Don’t keep your parents waiting, though.”

The blond boy nodded, and, without another word, he sulkily made his way over to his parents. Ginny turned away before she saw the concern spread of Draco’s face.

“Okay, Rose. What happened?” she asked the auburn-haired girl, arching an eyebrow at her.

The girl held up her glove-covered hands, “I don’t know! I just found out about it when I saw Scorpius looking for him. He’s not anywhere on the express, though.”

Ginny frowned, “Are you sure?”

Rose nodded, chewing worriedly on her lip, “Yeah, I’m sure. I checked like three times. It’s like he disappeared.”

Ginny bit her lip, hard. A cold pit formed at the bottom of her stomach. Her hands shook.

Something was horribly wrong.

“Okay. Okay, you go back to your parents. I’ll keep looking for him,” Ginny said, gesturing her over to where Ron and Hermione were glancing their way, “I’ll find him. Don’t worry.”

Once the fifteen-year-old girl left, Ginny climbed onto the train. As Hermione, Ron, and their children left the platform, she became acutely aware that she was the only one left on Platform 9 ¾.

She pulled out her wand, a shaky breath leaving her lips, “Homenum Revelio.”

Nothing.

She entered another train car, repeating the spell, but again, nothing came up.

Four train cars later, Ginny was in full-blown panic mode.

The Hogwarts Express blew its horn, announcing that it was about to leave, so she quickly hopped off, “Albus! Albus!”

Nothing. The platform was completely empty. Albus was nowhere to be seen.

Her hands shook furiously as she pulled out her phone, pressing her speed dial. The phone ringed twice before Harry answered.

“Harry? Something’s wrong. Albus is missing.”

* * *

His eyes flickered open slowly, and a moan immediately left his lips. His head was pounding, and he was absolutely freezing. His fingers moved to the ground as he pushed himself into a sitting position before bringing a hand up to rub his head.

“What in Merlin’s name…”

It was dark, pitch black even. He couldn’t even see five inches in front of his face.

He was on the floor, on cold concrete. The room that he was in was cold. He had been stripped down to his boxers, leaving him shivering.

“Hello?” he called out, slowly pushing himself to a standing position. He held a hand out in front of him and took a step forward, “H-hello! Is anyone here?”

There was no answer. He walked forward until he hit metal bars.

“What is this?” he whispered to himself, breathing out shakily, “Some sort of cell?”

He grabbed two bars and tried to see if he could fit between them, but the space was too small. He could only get his calf through. He pulled back and pulled on the bars, but they didn’t budge. He let out a groan of panicked frustration.

“Hello!” he called out again, kicking at the bars, “Let me out! Let me go!”

There was no response.

He kicked at the bar again and then backed up until his back hit a concrete wall. He slowly lowered himself to the ground and pulled his legs to his chest, wrapping his arms around them to try and stay cold.

“Hello,” he called out, voice weak and shaky.

He was alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if you think you know what's going on! I've left a few hints throughout about what actually happened, and I'm curious if you guys can figure it out. I'd also love to hear your thoughts in a comment! Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

It took the aurors three hours of searching the platform, and three hours of Harry and Ginny calling anyone and everyone that Albus may have gone home with, to determine Albus Severus Potter to be missing.

“What’s going on?” James demanded when Harry walked through the door to update the kids on what was going on, “Where’s Albus?”

Harry held up his hands and took a deep breath. His eyes flickered over his eldest son. The teenager’s eyebrows were furrowed, arms across his chest, and his skin was several shades paler than usual.

Without saying anything, Harry stepped forward, wrapping the boy in his arms and pulling him close.

“Wha- Dad?” James’ voice shook as he was pulled into his chest, “Dad, what’s going on?”

“We don’t know,” Harry answered honestly as he pulled away. His hands shook, and he stuffed them in the pockets in his robes, “We can’t find Albus. He wasn’t on the platform, and we called everyone that we could think of, but he didn’t go home with them. Can you think of anyone that he might have gone home with?”

James blinked and shook his head, “I- I don’t know. Malfoy? Maybe Uncle Neville?”

“Neither of them has seen him,” Harry ran a hand over his face and groaned lightly, “Where’s Lily?”

“Kitchen,” James gestured towards the door, “I haven’t told her that anything is wrong, yet.”

Harry nodded lightly and took a deep breath, “Okay, I’ll let her know. I’m going to need you to stay here in case Albus shows up or calls. I need you to watch Lily, too,” he paused briefly, “And don’t open the door for anyone that you don’t know.”

James’ eyes widened. His mouth fell slack, “Do you… Do you think someone hurt him?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know what happened, but I want to be sure that nothing else happens, okay?”

The seventeen-year-old nodded sharply as Harry turned away to go into the kitchen. He pushed open the door to see Lily at the table, kicking her legs cheerfully as she took small bites of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Her hair was pulled back in red braids and she beamed at Harry as he entered.

“Hey, dad!” she chirped happily, setting her sandwich down, “Did you get called into a cool case?”

Harry grabbed a chair, pulling it closer to his daughter, and shook his head, “No. No, I didn’t. I have something that I need to talk to you about.”

Lily arched an eyebrow at him, smile falling slightly, “What’s wrong?”

He bit his lip hard and took a deep breath, squashing down the part of him that was screaming at himself for not being out there with Ginny looking for his son. The smaller, more logical part of himself knew that he needed to take care of his other children as well, though.

“We can’t find your brother,” he told her, forcing the words out, “He wasn’t on the train when it pulled in.”

A puzzled expression came over Lily’s face. She tilted her head at him in confusion, “But I saw him on the train.”

“A lot of people did,” Harry continued, “but he wasn’t there when the train arrived at 9 ¾.”

That was the confusing part, he knew. People didn’t just disappear from the Hogwarts Express. There were charms around it preventing such a thing. Logically, he knew that if Albus had been on the train when it took off, then he should have been on the train when it arrived.

But he wasn’t.

Lily shook her head, frowning heavily. There was something in her eyes that he couldn’t place, “Then where did he go?”

“We don’t know,” he told her softly, “That’s what we’re trying to figure out now. You said you saw him on the train. What was he doing?”

He could see the fear and confusion swimming in her eyes, “Uh, I don’t know. He stopped outside my compartment once. He seemed upset. I think he drank some water or something. I was going to ask him what was wrong but then he went into the loo.”

Harry nodded lightly. Something about her words struck him, but he couldn’t figure out what.

“Did someone hurt him?” Lily asked, usually chipper voice cracking.

He leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead, trying to calm her down, “We don’t know. Hopefully not. We’re hoping he just went home with a friend or something. Now, I’m going to go back to look for him. If he comes home, or calls, I want you to contact me immediately. Okay?”

She nodded. Tears sprung into her eyes and she flung her arms around him, “Okay, dad. I will.”

“Good. Thank you, Lils.”

A buzzing from his pocket had him jumping in surprise. Quickly, he pulled out his cellphone, heart in his chest with hope.

“Who is it?” Lily asked, eyes wide.

Harry frowned, answering the phone and bringing it to his ear, “It’s your Uncle Neville,” he told his daughter before speaking to the Hogwarts professor, “Hey, Neville. Do you have any information?”

“Yes. Well, not really. I’m not sure,” Neville responded on the other end, sounding confused. A soft meow sounded from his end, “Uh, I found Inky walking around the castle. I brought her back to my quarters.”

Harry blinked in surprise at that, standing up straight, “Inky? I completely forgot about her.”

Neville hummed in acknowledgement while Harry’s mind reeled, one question bouncing around. Neville spoke the question into the air, “Why would Albus leave her here?”

Lily was watching with wide eyes and Harry turned from her to stare at the wall, “I don’t… I don’t know. That doesn’t make any sense. Albus would never leave her at Hogwarts. I’m pretty sure he would kill for that cat.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” Neville responded worriedly. Then, he spoke up, voice hesitant, “Do you think something might have happened before he got on the train? I know that Scorpius said that he was acting odd on the Express…”

Harry blinked, eyes widening at that revelation. It made sense. Harry had talked to Scorpius. He had gone with aurors to Malfoy Manor right after it became obvious that Albus was not on the platform. Scorpius had answered his questions without any hesitation, near tears and blaming himself for not going after him more.

“You’re right. Scorpius said he saw Albus right before going to the Express and he was fine, but he almost missed the train. If what he said is correct, then there is about a fifteen-minute window between the times that he saw Albus. Something must have happened during that time,” he trailed off, frowning, “But what?”

* * *

Hours passed as he sat into absolute darkness. The cold of the cell seeped into his skin, seeming to reach into his bones. He wasn’t sure of the exact time, as he kept falling asleep and jerking awake what seemed like moments later. He couldn’t be sure, though. There were no windows, so he couldn’t see if it was day or night, and he wasn’t sure how long it took for him to wake up the first time.

He tried to think about what happened, but his memory was foggy.

He remembered searching for Inky and finding her in the Potion’s classroom. Afterwards, though, nothing came up. It was like he had apparated from the Potion’s classroom to this cell, though he knew that that definitely did not happen.

“Merlin, it’s cold!” he groaned, leaning his head against the concrete wall, rubbing his arms. He took a deep breath, squashing down the panic that threatened to rise up in him once again, “You’re fine, Al. You’re fine. Dad is probably on the way right now. He’ll be here any minute now.”

He had been telling himself that since he woke up. He didn’t know where he was, how he had gotten there, or even why, but he knew one thing; His father would find him.

He would find him.

Before he could say anything else, the lights suddenly turned on, impossibly bright. He cried out in surprise, eyes snapping shut to ward off the painful light. He covered his face with his hands when his eyelids weren’t enough.

“Your father isn’t coming, Potter.”

His eyes flew open at the sudden sound of a deep, gravely voice. He hadn’t heard anyone enter.

As his eyes adjusted to the sudden ability to see, he blinked at the sight in front of him. He had been correct in his assumption that he was in some kind of cell. Steel bars had been situated in the corner of what looked to be a cellar, blocking off a corner of the room about two meters by two meters. There were no windows in the cellar, and a single door was at the opposite end.

A figure stood in front of the door, black robes covering their body from head to toe and a mask of a skull covering their face. A death eater mask.

A chill went down his spine. He wasn’t sure if it was from the low temperature in the cellar or the sight in front of him.

“W-W-Who,” he cleared his throat and spoke up again, in a stronger voice, “Who are you? What do you want from me?”

“Who I am is not important,” the figure said, voice deep and gravely and unfamiliar, “And what I want from you will soon become clear.”

His eyebrows furrowed at the person in front of him. He opened his mouth again to ask another question, but he was cut off by the figure holding up a glove-covered hand.

“If you speak without talking to, I will have to punish you. Understand?”

He sucked in a breath at those words, his self-preservation kicking in. His mouth snapped shut and he nodded sharply.

Part of him wished he was more like James at this moment. James would have been brave enough to challenge the person in front of him, demanding answers.

But Albus wasn’t a Gryffindor. He was a Slytherin. And he wasn’t brave enough to disobey.

“Good,” the figure said with a nod, “Now, I need to go handle a few loose ends. I will be back shortly to begin our sessions.”

Without another word, his kidnapper turned and left, leaving Albus frozen, staring straight ahead.

The lights turned off, leaving him in pitch darkness once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed! Let me know if you think you know what happened. I've left several hints. Actually, if you read closely, I've even left hints on who is behind this.
> 
> Also, what do you think this person wants with Albus? Tell me in a comment!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: This chapter contains references to murder of a minor. It also contains the torture (through the Cruciatus Curse) of a minor. If the torture triggers you, you can skip Albus' scene at the end.

Midnight came and passed and, still, there was no sign of Albus.

Harry managed to convince Ginny to leave the Auror Department and go home for the night, worried about leaving James and Lily home alone overnight, despite the fact that James, at seventeen, was legally an adult in the Wizarding World.

He, however, did not go home.

Instead, he appointed Bailey Saunders as temporary Head Auror to handle everything else while he threw himself into his son’s case. For hours, he stayed cooped up in his office, going over file after file of interviews that had already been completed in the hours after Albus’ disappearances, any old case that had the smallest of similarities, and anyone that had it out for him.

Nothing connected.

Teddy, his godson and rookie Auror, joined him in his office at six in the morning to help. The bags under his eyes showed that despite having been sent home the night before, he had not slept.

“Go over the timeline again,” the blue-haired man said, leaning back in the chair with a deep frown on his face.

Harry nodded lightly, pulling out the paper that he had scribbled down their timeline, “Scorpius said that all the Slytherin Fifth Year boys woke up at 6:30 sharp. Apparently, their roommate Rory Anderson is a morning person, and is also very loud in the mornings. Scorpius said that Albus seemed perfectly normal at this point. They went to the Great Hall for breakfast at 7:00. According to several people, Albus returned to his dorm at 8:00 to pack and get an early start on his homework. According to another roommate, Carter Simmons, he saw Albus reading in their dorm around 10:00. At around 11:40, Scorpius went to get Albus to go to the Express. He headed down by himself while Albus finished packing, apparently going to look for Inky.”

Teddy cut in, frowning lightly, “Then Albus arrived at the train at 11:59, right? Cutting it awfully close.”

“Yeah, he was acting weird, apparently,” Harry said, swallowing back his worry, “He didn’t have Inky.”

There was a pause as Teddy let out a hum of thought, “Something happened there. Was he approached by someone?”

“We don’t know. Scorpius said he seemed nervous but not scared, and he was irritable and defensive. He kept leaving the compartment about once an hour, and he disappeared about two hours before the train arrived at Kings Cross. At the time, Scorpius thought that he had gone to sit with someone else, as he seemed to be angry at Scorpius.”

“But he wasn’t on the train at all,” Teddy responded. He was frowning, and Harry could see the gears turning in his head.

Before either of them could say anything else, there was a sudden knock on the door. Harry looked up sharply to see Ron open the door, peeking in.

“Sorry to interrupt,” the man said, eyebrows furrowed, “Cassandra Mallory, the Potions Professor at Hogwarts, wants to talk to you. She says it’s about Albus. She’s in the interviewing room.”

* * *

When Harry entered the interviewing room, he found a woman in her early thirties seated at one end of the table, long brown hair pulled back in a messy ponytail. Her leg bounced nervously and laying on the table in front of her was a wand.

A very familiar wand.

Albus’ wand.

“Mr. Potter!” she exclaimed as she stood up at the sight of him, brown eyes filled with tears, “Oh, I heard about your son. I’m so sorry.”

Harry held up a hand. His eyes were glued to the wand on the table. Mallory seemed to understand.

“Oh, yes. The wand. I found it in my classroom. I went to go do some final cleaning in there and saw it under a desk. I thought I should return it.”

He reached forward and gingerly picked up the wand, letting his green eyes trail over the birch wood and intricate design along the side.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Teddy whispered from where he was just behind him, eyebrows furrowed as he looked at the wand, “Albus didn’t take his wand with him onto the train?”

Mallory’s eyes were wide, “That’s what I was thinking! Neville told me that he was on the Express before he disappeared. Oh, the poor boy. He always was one of my best students.”

A full-body flinch went through his body at the use of past-tense. He sucked in a deep breath, eyes hard, “We’re going to find him. He’s not gone.”

Her eyes widened even more, “Oh! Of course, Mr. Potter. I didn’t mean that. I’m terribly sorry. I don’t mean that. Albus is and always will be one of my favorite students: phenomenal at Potions, incredibly studious, and extremely polite. Oh, I just can’t believe that this happened to him!”

As Harry’s mouth opened again, ready to rip the woman a new one for even suggesting such a thing, Teddy quickly grabbed his arm, holding him back silently.

Deep breaths.

“Did you see anything else out of the ordinary, Professor?” Teddy spoke up, letting Harry get control of his emotions.

The woman shook her head, eyes glued on Harry as if she wasn’t sure what to make of his reaction, “No, just the wand,” she hesitated, as if unsure if she should say anything else, but made up her mind, “Well, Albus had a lot of enemies at Hogwarts,” she said worriedly, “Have you looked into that? A lot of students didn’t like that he was a Potter in Slytherin. A lot of Gryffindors act like he betrayed them for being a Slytherin, and a lot of his house-mates seem to resent him for being outspoken against the Dark Arts. Do you think one of them could have done something?”

Harry was quiet for a moment, eyebrows furrowed, anger depleting as she spoke and replaced with concern. Albus didn’t talk much about his time at Hogwarts past his schoolwork and friends. He definitely had never mentioned anything about people treating him badly. It had always been a worry of his ever since his middle child had been placed in Slytherin, but he had assumed that since he had not heard anything of it, everything was fine.

“Can you give us some names?”

* * *

“Can’t you just tell them that we’ve had some kind of emergency?”

Scorpius was sitting on his bed, hands in his lap, shoulders stiff as he spoke. His mother, Astoria, sat beside him sympathetically. It had been a full day since Albus had disappeared and the Malfoys had not heard a single thing about the case after Harry Potter had come to their residence to interview Scorpius.

Astoria reached down and squeezed his knee softly, “You know we can’t do that, Scorpius. They will get suspicious. I can tell them that you’re sick, so you don’t have to come out of your room, but they will be here shortly.”

A frustrated huff left his lips. He pulled away from his mother, leaning back harshly on his bed, arms crossing over his chest, “Why does it have to be dad’s parents? Why couldn’t it be your parents?”

“My parents are visiting Paris with your Aunt Daphne and your cousins. You know this,” Astoria said calmly, sighing, “I wish I could do something else, sweetheart, but I can’t. We just have to-“

The sudden sound of a doorbell echoed through the entire house, magically amplified, and Scorpius groaned.

“Oh, they’re here! Okay, Scorpius, I know it’s going to be hard, but do you think you can stay quiet about everything that’s going on?”

He winced and thought about Albus, his best friend who could be dead, for all he knew, and was most likely in extreme danger.

He had to pretend like he didn’t care.

“I don’t know…” he trailed off, answering honestly. Fear choked him up when he even thought about telling Grandfather that he was best friends with the son of Harry Potter, but guilt ran through him at the idea of pretending like Albus didn’t matter.

“Okay. Okay,” Astoria took a deep breath and closed her eyes, standing up, “I’ll tell them that you’re sick for now. That will buy us at least a day, maybe more.”

Scorpius nodded but as his mother stood up to leave, he grabbed her arm. In a rare moment of vulnerability, he spoke up, “Do you think they’ll find him?”

She was quiet for a moment, searching for the right words, “He has Harry Potter looking for him. I know that his father will stop at nothing to bring his son home. He has the best person that he could behind his case.”

He swallowed hard at that. That wasn’t an affirmative, but he knew that his mother didn’t want to lie to him.

There were a lot of people who would love to see the Potters hurt.

He nodded lightly and leaned back on the bed, letting go of her arm and closing his eyes, “Okay.”

“Okay. Rest now. I will send an owl to Harry Potter asking him to owl us as soon as he has any information.”

She slipped out of his room and closed the door behind him. He heard the cold voice of his grandfather nearby, questioning his whereabouts, and was reassured as his mother informed the man that he was coming down with something.

“I don’t want to expose you to his illness right before the holidays.”

Their voices faded away as they moved from his bedroom, and Scorpius let himself drift into a fitful slumber.

* * *

Albus is woken up by the noise of a heavy door shutting and the lights flickering on.

He blinks briefly in surprise, groggily pushing himself up from where he had laid uncomfortably on the cement floor. His body had not stopped shivering since he had first woken up in the cold cell, and his teeth had now begun to chatter.

His kidnapper had returned.

The person approached his cell slowly, still covered from head to toe to keep their identity hidden, and Albus hoped that meant that they were planning on letting him go.

He wasn’t going to bank on it, though.

“Ah, very good. Are you ready for our first session, Potter?”

He stiffened, pushing himself back against the cement wall, pulling his legs to his chest protectively. He did not give an answer.

The person in front of him unsheathed their wand faster than his eyes could see, and suddenly…

Millions of red, hot knives were plowing into his skin. Every single bone was snapping and shattering. Each nerve in his body was exploding. He was sure that his entire body was about to combust. Distantly, he could hear someone screaming, and only a small portion of his mind recognized that it was himself. He lost control of his body as he writhed on the ground, the worst pain imaginable shooting through his body like electricity.

He was going to pass out. He wanted to pass out.

Then, as fast as it hit, it was gone, leaving him gasping for air, crumpled on the concrete floor. His body felt sore and stiff and something sticky trailed down his neck. He was dimly aware that he hit his head against the wall.

The figure spoke. Its voice, deep and gravely and probably fake, held no sympathy or care for the teenager.

“Are you going to answer me?”

He gasped for breath, trying to comprehend what had just happened. It took him a moment for his mind to catch up with him.

That was the Cruciatus Curse. 

He knew about it, had learned about it in his DADA class, and he even knew several people who had suffered under it, including his own father.

Still, it had been something that seemed way too far from him. That was something that happened in the past, in the War. It was something that he never thought that he would suffer under.

Merlin, that had been awful. He suddenly had a lot more sympathy for his family that had been in the War.

“Are you going to answer me, or would you rather have another round?”

“No!” he gasped out, weakly pushing himself into a sitting position, “No!”

The Death Eater nodded, “Good. Now, we’re going to make a little video for your father.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed! We're getting closer to figuring out what is going on. This chapter contained quite a few more hints at what is going on. You guys have any idea? Let me know in a comment!


End file.
